Finding the Way
by OldSFfan
Summary: With Cait's help, String is healing from his injuries after the bombing at Santini Air, but the threat to the team has not been neutralized.  Cait and String must reassess their relationship.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These characters and original scenario belong to the copyright holders. I'm just getting them off the shelf to visit with them for a while. This story follows the bomb explosion at Santini Air in "Blackjack." String is recovering from his terrible injuries with Cait's help, but the threat is not neutralized. Like Robert Nielsen and his charming stories, and several other fan writers, I wanted to explore String and Cait's relationship as it developed.

This is a rewritten T-rated version of the original story, with the M-rated portion now a separate excerpt; see "Finding the Way Excerpt."

Finding the Way

After Hawke's visit to his doctor, Caitlin landed the Jet Ranger in front of Santini Air. Hawke swung his legs out with a sign of his old athletic grace, even though he still depended on the leg brace and a cane. At least the cast was off his leg. Results of weeks of exercise and therapy were starting to show.

Of course, that begged a question. If Hawke didn't need her any more, why was Caitlin spending nights at the cabin? She had been flying down to Santini Air several times a week to work, but still slept on a cot in the first floor. He slept upstairs in his bed.

That morning they had worked together to clean up the breakfast dishes. Hawke sensed her restlessness. When she finished drying the dishes, Hawke took Cait's elbow in his hand and turned her to face him. "I don't want you to leave."

"You can take care of yourself, now. I can't stay here like a babysitter or a permanent visitor, sleeping on a cot, far from my apartment, from my things."

"You could sleep upstairs, with me."

"Just like that, Hawke?"

He slid his hand under her chin and tilted her head up. He framed her face with his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Cait was nearly as tall as he. He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss and tasted her lips and her tongue. She leaned into the kiss, closing her eyes and sliding her arms around his neck. He could hear her heart beating. Or was it his? "That's how I want you to stay, Cait," he said. "That's why." He returned to kissing her. She turned her head away.

"I think we need more time. I think we need rules of engagement." That slip caused her to blush and turn away. "That's not what I meant," she muttered.

He couldn't help a gentle laugh. "I know."

She met his lips again, then stepped back. "Dom will be here to pick us up in a minute. Come on, Hawke, you're not the only man to fall in love with his nurse."

"You're not my nurse, you're my friend. I've been in love with you a long time, but I was too dumb to know it."

"Say that again?"

"I'm in love with you. I've loved you for a long time."

"Oh, String," she said. He kissed her again. When she could speak, she said, "You may be many infuriating things, but dumb isn't one of them. I love you. I've loved you, maybe since you saved me in Texas, but I think you know that. Let's go to work and we can try to sort things out later. We've been circling around each other too long to rush into anything now."

Suddenly serious, he said, "Cait, I'm free to do something about it, now."

She understood. "You're giving up Airwolf."

"I can't sleep with you, then order you into danger. You know that I couldn't do that. We couldn't do that."

Cait stepped back, put one hand out to keep him from following her. "What if I give her up? She has a team now. I'm not part of it, although Jason invited me to fly as back-up engineer. But I've sort of assumed for the last few months that I wouldn't fly her again. Then you wouldn't have to step down."

"I have stepped down already. Cait, I'm not fit and I won't be close to fit for months. I'll miss her, but I won't misuse her. She's a war ship, not an excursion chopper. The deal always was to return her when Saint John came home. Well, he's home and he's flying Airwolf. You'll have to make your own choice on joining the team, but now, you and I can make decisions about the two of us."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her again. They separated reluctantly. "Hawke, I'm not being coy, but I want to be courted. I want to court you, too. After everything we've been through together, it's worth taking some time."

When Cait would have stepped away, Hawke held her arm and pulled her into his arms again. "It is worth some time, maybe our whole lives. Let me know what you want. Kind of an adventure, isn't it?" He kissed her cheek, then cocked his head, listening. "There's Jo to pick us up." He let go slowly and picked up his cane. "I said I'd get back to normal life, life after Airwolf. How about dinner and dancing?" He looked down at the cane. "Make that dinner and a movie."

Cait rested her right hand on his shoulder and her left around his waist. She started to hum "Unchained Melody." He rested his forehead against hers and moved with her and the music.

~~~~~~AW~~~~~~

A week later Cait and String completed the regular maintenance of the Jet Ranger. After they finished for the day and put away their tools, they cleaned up. Cait changed into her jeans and shirt in the bathroom, String shrugged into his in the back of the hangar. She came out and wrapped her arms around him from the back. Hawke turned in her arms and took her face in his hands. He leaned in to a long, deep kiss. "What are we waiting for?" he asked.

"We're courting each other, remember."

"We have. Aren't we done yet?"

"I might get talked into the next step."

"What's that, Cait?"

"What do you think? We're sleeping in two separate beds. It's inefficient."

"Very inefficient." He kissed her again. "What should we do about it?"

"Careful. Remember how big my family is. A small wedding might look like the Oklahoma Land Rush."

"Couldn't we ask your parents for a ladder for a wedding present?"

"A ladder?"

"It's an old joke. Couldn't we just go get married and tell everybody about it afterwards?"

"I wish. Really, I've never been interested in that dream wedding that so many girls wanted. But my mother would have a conniption and so would Dom. You and I need to have a talk back at the cabin. Meanwhile, I have to run over to my place to check the mail. There are a couple things I wanted to pick up from my apartment, too."

"Cait," he called her, his voice suddenly serious. "It's been too quiet. Let me come with you."

"A hunch?"

"I dunno. I may just be paranoid. Let me come along."

She looked into his face. "You're not kidding. Well, you have good hunches." She took a deep breath. "Okay, let's go."

They stopped at the safe in the office. Hawke retrieved a handgun and checked the safety. He shoved it into his waistband, beneath his jacket. "Dom," he said to him, where he was fiddling with the Tyler Mount.

"What?"

"We're going over to Cait's place. She needs to check her mail."

"Oh, sure," he said, absently. "I was thinking of getting a sandwich and working on this until I finished it."

"I tell you what, we'll bring back sandwiches and some soda. You said you were avoiding coffee after five o'clock. Jo was going to fly us up to the cabin around five."

"Thanks. That will help. The parts we needed just arrived today and I'd like to get this thing done already."

"Dom, pay attention for a minute. It's been too quiet. Lock up after us. Put your handgun where you can reach it."

Dom's head snapped up. They shared a look. "You got it. You be careful, too."

The parking lot looked normal at the garden apartment complex and Hawke took a deep breath. He must be jumping at shadows. "Shall we?"

Cait retrieved a handful of catalogs and a bill from the mailbox. Hawke's weeks of physical therapy were paying off; he led the way up the stairs to her second floor apartment. The door was ajar. "Wait," he whispered, and pulled the gun out. He flipped the safety off and pushed the door open. The room was a nightmare, the contents of drawers were on the floor, cushions were torn open and stuffing was strewn across the floor, books, some torn, were scattered around the room. Hawke wheeled around the room, pistol in front of him. "Clear," he whispered to her, and stepped into the bedroom. The mess was worse. He checked the closet, then the bathroom. They finished in the kitchen, where dishes were broken on the floor, silverware and pots scattered around, cabinets hanging open.

Cait returned to the bedroom, knelt down, and rummaged around on the floor until she found her open jewelry box under some blouses. She held up her grandmother's locket and started to sob. "They didn't take it," she said. "I don't think they took anything. What were they looking for? Who are they?"

Hawke knelt next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I think they meant this as a warning." He helped her to her feet. "Let's get back to the airfield. I'm worried about Dom. I don't think any of us should be alone right now. We'll help you clean the place up. I want to call Jason, but from a payphone, in case there's a tap on any of our usual phones. Do you want to call the police from here? It would be a normal reaction."

Cait shook her head. "What would be the point?" Hawke grabbed some toilet tissue and blotted her tears. She swallowed and said, "You're right. I don't want to leave Dom alone. Let's get back there."

They locked up carefully. Cait drove back to the airfield, after stopping at a payphone to call Jason's office. Hawke was worried. He sat hunched over with his hands clasped white-knuckled around the top of his cane. They pulled too fast into the parking lot. Hawke practically fumbled his keys unlocking the door. They ran into the hangar. "Dom," Hawke shouted.

"Here. My stomach is wondering if my throat's been cut. Where have you been? Jo said to call her when you're ready to fly home."

Hawke sagged in relief and stopped, out of breath. Cait said, "Dom, someone tossed my apartment."

Dom wiped his hands and hugged Cait. "I'm sorry, Honey. What can we do for you?"

Cait's voice trembled, "I want to go home."

"To Texas?"

"No, back up to the Lake."

Hawke said, "How about we go get something to eat, and then Dom can fly us home. I'm not sure any of us ought to stay alone right now."

"Jo and I will be careful. Is Le okay with the Okushiros?" Dom asked.

"Le is probably safer with them than with me. Give Saint John a call, warn him and Mike, will you?" They stopped at the diner at the north end of the airstrip, then Jo met them at the airfield and flew Cait and Hawke to the cabin.

The sun was going down by the time they walked into the cabin and shut the door. The stillness was a refuge. Tet looked up from his spot by the hearth. Hawke fed him and opened the door so he could go outside. He put some classical guitar music on the stereo, then he sat down on the sofa and patted it. "Sit with me, Cait." She sat tight against him. She was trembling. The display of nerves was unusual for her. Concerned, he put an arm around her. "I can't promise I'll keep you safe," he told her, "but you know I'll try. We'll all try."

Cait caught her breath in a huge gulp. "It's not just me. We're all in the cross-hairs."

One of the things String liked best about her was her steady good nature. Her distress was all the more disturbing. And she was right; he and Dom were the proof. "Yeah, I know."

Tears were running down her face. Eventually she rested her wet cheek against his shoulder. "Thank you. They sure know how to keep us on edge, don't they?"

"Sure do. Cait, sleep upstairs with me. I'll hold you." He opened the door to let Tet back in and returned to her side.

"Are you sure?" In answer, String took Cait's hand and led her past her cot and up the stairs. She started to take her clothes off. He reached out and stopped her.

"Our first time will be for joy, not comfort, or fear. Put on your pajamas and I'll hold you."

In the darkened sleeping loft, Hawke let Cait cling to him. "Pretty good teddy bear," she told him, as she wrapped an arm around his stomach and rested her forehead against the back of his neck.

"Cait, are you okay?" His voice was a raspy whisper. She rested her hand on his chest above his diaphragm and felt him speak as much as heard him.

"Much better. I feel safe with you. I always feel safe here."

"Good," he told her. "And I think my teddy bear is holding me." Hawke slept in a t-shirt and sweatpants. She wore cotton pajamas. They started out with Cait tucked against his back and holding him, but in the dark, String woke with Cait nestled against him with her back against his chest and her bottom in his lap. His arm was draped over her waist. He stopped himself from moving his hand to her chest. "My teddy bear," he murmured.

Hawke thought of the nights when he was newly home from the hospital with an enormous plaster cast on his leg. He had always been able to trust his own strength, but the bombing left him fragile and shaken. At first, when he could not climb the stairs to the loft, Cait slept on the sofa and he slept on a cot. He needed her help with almost everything. Later, when he could sleep in his own bed in the loft, she slept on the cot. As his injuries healed and he grew more self-sufficient, he was still grateful for her care and company.

Sometimes, when Hawke's uncomfortable cast and his itching, healing burns made it hard to sleep, he'd gotten up, and leaning on his crutches, went over to the railing where he could see Cait asleep downstairs. He thought about her patience with him when he was in pain or when he was just grouchy, but there was nothing saintly about her. When he snapped at her, she snapped back. And then she laughed, until he laughed at himself, and when he doubted he would ever be well enough to fly again, she made him feel that there was no obstacle he could not overcome. Still, her generosity was breathtaking. Watching her, he was careful not to make any noise because he knew she would rush upstairs out of worry for him. Just the sight of her there helped to steady him and let him sleep.

But there were times when the thought of Cait sleeping so close had nothing to do with care and friendship. One night, a shaft of moonlight illuminated her face. He usually thought of her as cute-he had thought of her that way since they met in Texas and Dom pointed out how cute Cait was-but in the moonlight, Cait was so lovely String caught his breath and he wished that the twenty-pound plaster cast didn't keep him from a cold shower, or a quick swim in the icy waters of Eagle Lake. Now Cait was in bed with him, and he had promised just to comfort her. String rested his forehead against her and smelled the light, flowery scent of her shampoo. He was afraid he would be unable to fall back to sleep, but he listened to her breathing and after a while he drifted off.

In the morning Cait was awake before String, an unusual occurrence. She lay on her side facing him, watching him sleep. His face was rather solemn. He breathed softly. She reached out and gently traced his eyebrows and his lips with her forefinger, then followed some fading burn scars on his neck. He rolled onto his back, then rolled over and pinned her flat on the bed. "Tickles."

"You're ticklish," she declared, with satisfaction. She was reaching for him when he grabbed her hand, then tried to catch her other hand as it danced maddeningly over his neck and ears. He finally put a stop to it by kissing her. She reached up and wrapped her free arm around his neck and kissed him back.

"That's better than coffee," Cait murmured when he stopped.

"Better than coffee." He rested his forehead against hers. His heart was hammering. "But if we don't stop, this is going to go further."

"Good."

"Remember, we're courting. Are you ready for this?"

"I can't wait."

"Cait, let's wait until tonight."

"Why?"

"Too much light now."

"String, what's wrong?"

"I look like a jigsaw puzzle."

"I've been with you since the bombing, remember? The scars are fading."

"How can you stand to look at me? I can't."

Cait didn't answer. She pulled up his t-shirt. A broken rib had punctured his lung. The scar from the surgery to repair it was still livid. She kissed the surgical seam. "The scars are part of you, and I love you."

He kissed her, until they were both breathless. "There's one on my back."

"Let me see."

Cait helped him pull off his t-shirt. He rolled onto his stomach and she pressed her lips to that red, jagged welt and trailed kisses up to the sensitive nape of his neck.

"My turn," he said. They kissed again until Hawke rested his forehead against hers and tried to catch his breath. "Let me love you," he asked, when he could speak.

Cait pressed her lips against his. "Let me love you," she answered.

******M-Rated Excerpt Begins Here******

******M-Rated Excerpt Ends Here******

His kiss threatened to delay their dressing further, but he pulled away reluctantly. He swung his legs around to the edge of the bed and sat up. Suddenly, he was embarrassed and then elated by the intimacy of sitting naked in his bed with Cait, his Cait, who for some unfathomable and incredibly lucky reason, loved him. "Cait," he said gruffly.

"What, String?"

"Everything's changed. Are we good?"

Cait sat up next to him and pulled him to her so she could kiss him on the lips. He reached around her and returned the kiss. She said, "Everything's changed and everything's the same, only better, and we're very, very good."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: These characters and original scenario belong to the copyright holders. I'm just getting them off the shelf to visit with them for a while.

Cait and the Care and Feeding of Hawkes

Dom took Caitlin aside after she got back from flying a charter to San Diego. Hawke was at a film shoot with Mike. "Have a few minutes to talk, Honey?"

"Sure, Dom. How about you treat me to lunch?"

"Tacos?"

"I'm a Texas girl. I'm always up for tacos."

"Tacos it is." Dom walked back into the office where Ellie and Saint John were eating their sandwiches and playing with Joshua. "Cait and I are going to grab a quick bite at Francisco's place. Can we get you anything?"

"No thanks, Dom," Saint John said. "We're nearly done with lunch anyway, and it's almost time for you know who to have his afternoon nap."

Dom walked over to Joshua and gave the blond head a quick caress. He and Cait walked out to the parked cars. He held the passenger-side door open for Cait, seated her in the passenger seat of the Santini Air jeep, and drove to the small Mexican restaurant on the west side of the airfield. They sat down and ordered.

Dom was uncharacteristically quiet.

"What's up, Dom?"

He fiddled with his water glass. "I was thinking about String."

"I think about him all the time. It's kinda nice."

"And he thinks about you. He doesn't take his eyes off you when he's in the same room." He took a deep breath.

"Dom?"

"Well, you know how happy I am for you."

"I hear a 'but' in there somewhere."

"Well, it's just I can't help but worry a little. String is like, well, it's like a…, a…, it's a little like having an exotic pet. You love it but you're never sure what it's going to do. Marrying him is going to be a challenge."

"You know, he's a lot easier to be around since Saint John is back."

"And since he's with you. He walks around smiling. String, smiling."

"Like Bobby Phelps said, he looks good when he smiles."

"It just seems too perfect after so much heartache for so long. I guess I just worry that he'll go off into one of his moods or something and wreck the best thing that's ever happened to him."

"What's that, Dom?"

"You, Cait. But you'll have to be patient. Really patient."

Cait reached out to take Dom's hand. "I know. I know, but I love him, and I want to be with him. Trust me, Dom. I'll take good care of him. I won't hurt him."

"And don't let him hurt you."

"I won't."

Their lunch plates came. Dom watched with amusement as Cait dumped hot sauce on top of the salsa.

"What?" she asked.

"I guess you can take the girl out of Texas, but…"

"But you cain't take Texas out of the gal," she drawled.

"I don't know how you don't get ulcers." They dug into their food.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: These characters and original scenario belong to the copyright holders. I'm just getting them off the shelf to visit with them for a while. Chapter 3 of "Finding the Way."

Dom Flying High

Dom walked into the office at Santini Air with Toni Donatelli, handling his cane with a jaunty air. Cait and Hawke stood up. "Well?" Cait asked.

Dom's grin nearly split his face. "Got my ticket back," he said. "Makes me feel like a whole man again."

"You are a whole man. You always have been," Cait assured him. She kissed his lined cheek. "Congratulations."

"Well, I'm taking everyone out to Luigi's for dinner. My treat." He rested his hand on Hawke's shoulder. "You're next."

Hawke closed his eyes. "It's been too long. I haven't been grounded this long since I got hurt in the war. The doctor says she'll give me a clean bill of health in a week or two. Take me up, Dom?"

Dom's smile, if anything, got wider. "Been disappointed if you asked anyone else."

Hawke shrugged. "I wasn't going to ask Saint John. He would have had too much fun at my expense."

"Well, I hear he had a few false starts there, himself, when Jo gave him a refresher and helped him with his license. Sixteen years is a lot longer than six months, and his confidence took as much of a beating as his skills."

"Jo is his cousin, not his younger brother," Hawke pointed out. "If he picked on her, she'd dump him out of the chopper. He sees it as his duty to ride herd on me."

"Yeah, well, some things don't change. Do you want them to?"

Hawke admitted, "Nah. I'm so happy to have him back that I get a kick out of it when he goes all big brother on me. Drives him crazy. Besides, I can hold my own, now."

Cait took both their arms. "I know Jo and Saint John will be pleased you're back up to speed. But let me point out that it's your female pilots who have kept Santini Air in the black these last few months."

"And don't think the studios haven't noticed," Dom told her. "Did I tell you that Bellisarius is thinking of developing a new show with a continuing character who is a woman pilot?"

"Wow! That's great," Cait said.

Hawke grinned. "Dom, maybe you and me, we'll just fly for fun, take care of the helicopters for our lady pilots, let the ladies make all the deadlines, fly all the retakes, wear all the weird costumes, while we crack a beer, fish, watch football…"

The din of a chopper coming in outside the hangar made talking impossible for a moment. "Saved by the Bell," Cait quipped.

They were surprised when Jason Locke followed Saint John, Mike, and Jo into the hangar. Hawke, Dom, and Cait were still grinning when the newcomers walked in. "Are we missing something?" Jo asked.

"I can fly again," Dom reported.

"Uncle Dom, that's wonderful!" Jo threw her arms around Dominic and kissed him. She turned to Hawke. "I assume you'll be able to, soon?"

"Maybe next week."

She kissed him too. "Good. We need you. It's high time you stopped goofing off."

"So much for our master plan," Hawke stage-whispered to Dom.

Jason cleared his throat. "I'm happy for you. But I have news."

"Good or bad?" Cait asked.

"Interesting. Let's go into the office." He dropped his voice. "Have you swept it recently?"

"This week."

"Do it again."

Troubled, Mike and Hawke rushed into the office. Mike swept it while Hawke unscrewed the speaker on the phones and the office radio. Mike climbed up on a chair to check the lights. "Clean," he reported.

Hawke shook his head and opened his palm to show the bug he had found in one of the phones. He limped over to Jason and dropped it into his hand. Jason walked into the hangar and grabbed a rag. He wrapped the bug, then pulled an empty coffee can from the trash and dropped it in. He snapped the lid on, then dumped that in a cardboard box filled with packing material in which some radio parts had been delivered that morning. He sealed it up and stuck it outside the hangar door. "Remind me to pick that up when I go back to the office. I want our techs to figure out what they can from it."

The festive mood was dampened by the find. "Let's lock up and have the meeting somewhere else," Jo suggested.

"I was going to treat all of you to pizza at Luigi's," Dom said. "Why don't we meet there?"

"Did you say that out loud in the office this afternoon?"

"Yeah." He looked around. "Oh, damn."

"Let's close the office and check your cars. You can pick the place once we're on the road."

Sobered, Dom and Jo locked up the office. They ended up at a Chinese place a couple miles from the airfield, sitting at a large round table at the back of the restaurant. Over eggrolls, Jason reported, "I think we have a lead on who was Bouchard's collaborator. He hired the man who set the bomb in the Jet Ranger."

"Who was it?" Dom asked.

"Cullen Dixon."

"Who?" Saint John demanded.

"He was, probably still is, a businessman. Very, very rich. String and Dom flew a witness to Washington in Airwolf to report to a Congressional hearing on his plot to take control of the economies of several key countries. They succeeded in getting her to the hearing, despite several attacks on Airwolf and a leak in the Firm. The Mexican Federales arrested Dixon, but he escaped, or was allowed to escape."

"So what was his motive for attacking Santini Air?" Jo broke in.

"We think it was revenge. Pure, simple revenge. Dixon probably found Bouchard first and gave him the idea of seizing Airwolf. Initially, Dixon really had no idea that Bouchard had the real Saint John and Bouchard initially hadn't any special interest in Saint John. I don't like coincidences, but it was one. We know that Dixon used his contacts stateside to set up the bombing, in order to kill Dom and isolate Hawke."

"So this Dixon is still out there?" Saint John asked. It was a rhetorical question.

Hawke asked the obvious. "How can we protect ourselves, Jason?"

"That's the problem. We don't know where Dixon is, and right now, we don't know how to stop him. His criminal enterprises are active again, too. I don't suppose you, String and Dom, and I guess, Cait, too, would consider going into the witness protection program?"

"No way!" Dom declared.

Jason raised his hands. "I had to ask." He smiled and shook his head. "Hiding three helicopter pilots, two men of particular ages and a woman who is a beautiful redhead, along with a half-Asian kid, would be a challenge."

Hawke reached out and took Caitlin's hand. "We have to stop him, or live looking over our shoulders. Jason, you're a spy. Isn't this the kind of thing you do?"

"It's part of what we do. Let me do some brainstorming. But I'll have to ask you. Are you willing to act as bait?"

Dominic spoke for all of them. "With safeguards, we'll have to."

"All right. I'll see what I can put together. I think we'll have to disrupt some of Dixon's businesses in such a way that he knows the Company is behind it, if possible, using Airwolf. Since some of those businesses are legitimate, we want to avoid harming innocents. But for now, I want you to take very serious precautions. No one goes anywhere alone or without telling someone where you're going. Keep the hangar locked down when you're not here, or even if you're busy with something. Pay attention. I'll see if we can assign you some discreet security. Drive Le back and forth to school and let the school authorities know that they are responsible for his safety when he's on school grounds."

Dom said, "Thanks. We'll let you know if we think of anything. It's a pain in the neck, but we'll watch our step for now."

Conversation stopped while the entrees were placed on the turntable in the middle of the table.

When they were private again, Hawke asked, "Jason, is Tess safe?"

"We checked. She is in the witness protection program and as near as we can tell, no one knows where she is besides her handler in the U.S. Marshalls Service. We've made a point of staying far, far away, after the mess the Firm made of your flight with her."

"Do you know if she had her baby? Is it all right? Was it a girl or boy?"

"I'm sorry. There is no way I can get that information."

Hawke sat back in his chair. "Well, if you ever hear anything…"

Dom opened his mouth to argue, but tact stopped him. Jason, after all, had proved himself to be one of the good guys. Another thought intruded. "Have you warned Archangel?"

"Both Archangel and Marella. We have assigned extra security to them. We did limit Dixon's reach in the U.S., but he has quite a network in some third world countries. Damn shame he got away in Mexico, but that's what we mean by his network."

Chinese dishes were passed around. Hawke carefully skipped anything with meat in it. Two shrimp dishes with vegetables and rice made it an easy meal for him. Cait gave his arm a quick hug, then dug into mu shu pork and Szechuan chicken.

When the meal was over, Dominic pushed back and tapped his water glass with his spoon. "Jason, we appreciate knowing what, or at least, who we're up against. Let's set up another meeting to discuss your plan."

Jason nodded. "I know we have to get this settled. It's Monday. Let's shoot for Thursday, say late afternoon at my office? I'll try to have more information and a plan of action by then."

Dom accepted for all of them. "We don't want him to have another crack at any of us. We have to bring this to a close."

"Yes we do," Jason agreed.

Hawke said softly, so his voice would not carry to the few diners at the front of the restaurant.. "We have the beginnings of a plan. We're not on the run anymore; we're on the hunt. Jason, thank you."

Jason shrugged. "We're a team," he said. "Let's see what the fortune cookies have to say."

Caitlin held hers up. "How's this, everybody: 'Your endeavor will find success.'"

"To success," Dom said, teacup raised.

And they all raised their teacup, and echoed Dom, "Success."


End file.
